Dawn began to slip through the dark clouds of Verlyn, breaking the damp night's darkness. Dust and debris from the ruins were still drifting, clinging to our hair and clothes. Our breaths were still ragged, hearts pounding like war drums.
"God… that was so close…" I whispered, staring at the ruins around the plaza. Wood, stone, and shards of glass were scattered everywhere. The smell of smoke and static electricity still lingered in the air.
Lyona sat for a moment on a bench that wasn't destroyed, her sword drooping beside her. Her face was pale, but her eyes glowed with a mix of fear and resignation. "You felt it too, right… that pressure? Not just from the dragon… but from… him."
I looked up at the sky, still empty except for the remnants of green light slowly fading. "Yes… Marchaos. Not just the dragon… he controlled everything. We… he… was watching."
There was a moment of silence, only the sound of our breaths and the wind whistling through the ruins. I felt something strange: my head and chest felt heavy, like our consciousness itself had been shaken by the temporal waves. That temporal distortion… left a mark on the mind.
"Makoto…" Lyona looked at me with a worried expression. "Do you feel… the time around us… strange? I… sometimes see our shadows slightly moving backward, or sometimes I feel like I see ourselves from another angle. Not here… but somewhere else."
I nodded slowly. "Me too… like there's a foreign voice, words that… feel familiar but unclear. Just whispers. As if someone is speaking from the future or from somewhere else."
We walked slowly toward the south of the plaza, moving through the ruins, trying to recover from last night's chaos. I looked at the sky, the silhouette of Marchaos still carved into my memory—upright, dark, and calm, unlike any threat we had ever faced.
"He… tested us," I whispered. "I feel like this isn't just about the dragon… but about us. About how we respond to danger, how we endure. And I… am not sure we're fully ready."
Lyona lowered her head, staring at her sword. "I felt that too. That pressure… wasn't just physical. As if he pierced into our minds. Measuring fear, courage… and maybe, weakness."
I looked at her, feeling the depth of her words. The dragon's waves—which should have been a real threat—were actually just part of Marchaos's test. And we… had just passed the first trial.
"Does… he know about the Northern Archive?" I asked softly. "About everything we found, everything we saw?"
Lyona shook her head, but her eyes were still observing the ruins around us. "I don't know. But it feels like… yes. All of this is connected. The fog, the Archive, the dragon… and him. He knows more than he shows. He… directs us, but without touching directly."
We kept walking, every step heavy from the dust and rubble, but also from the weight of realization. I could feel a subtle trauma lingering from last night's experience—the temporal vibrations leaving both physical and psychological effects, as if our bodies and minds were slightly… unsynchronized.
"Makoto… do you think he will appear again?" Lyona asked. Her voice was soft, but there was a tremble of fear she could barely hide.
I swallowed, looking toward the eastern sky that was beginning to redden. "Yes… I'm sure. But not to attack. He… is watching. We… are just pieces in his test. And the test… has only begun."
We stopped in the middle of the road toward the house we considered safe for the night. The city of Verlyn was starting to stir, people coming out of their homes, staring at the ruins and debris. Some merchants were starting to rearrange their carts again, but many remained silent, confused by the green light and explosions last night.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "We survived… but we didn't really win. That's important. Every decision we make… now he will watch."
Lyona nodded. Her eyes looked at me firmly. "We have to be ready. And we have to study this… before he appears again."
I nodded, feeling the weight of the responsibility. Marchaos, Makoto B… that entity, was not just physical strength. He was temporal play, an overseer, and perhaps the only one who could control the dragon's waves without touching the creature. Everything we experienced… was just one part of his test.
And as we walked through the ruins, I felt something more frightening than the dragon: the feeling that this world was too vast, and our existence too small. That Marchaos… at any time, could appear again, and test us in ways we couldn't yet understand.
I looked at Lyona, gripping her hand tightly. "We will endure. Together."
She gave a small smile, though still frightened. "Together. But… we have to understand him first. Before he decides… the next step for us."
And above, far in the brightening sky, I felt the dark silhouette of Marchaos lurking, silent, watching, and writing our next steps between layers of time only he could read.